Page 38 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

My chair tips dangerously as I lurch forward again, then rights itself. Closer. I need to get closer.

Ten feet. Eight. Six.

And then—impact. Hard and unyielding. I blink, disoriented, as my chair rebounds slightly. Nothing there. Nothing visible.

I try again, the same result. My head throbs where it connected with… something.

Glass. A transparent barrier.

The realization hits me like another blow. I’m not in the same room as Hailey. I’m in an adjacent space, separated by a wall of reinforced glass. A viewer. A spectator.

I scan my surroundings more carefully now. I’m in a small, concrete room with one glass wall. There’s a door set into it far in the corner behind me. The only visible exit.

My gaze returns to Hailey. She’s utterly still, save for the shallow rise and fall of her chest. Her skin gleams with sweat in the pink light, her body displaying a map of bruises that makes my blood boil with renewed rage.

“Hnggley!” I try again, the name mangled beyond recognition by the gag. I throw myself against the restraints hard enough that something in my wrist gives way with a sickening pop. The pain barely registers.

No response. But—there. A twitch of her fingers. The smallest movement.

Hope flares in my chest, bright and consuming. She’s there. Somewhere inside, she’s still there.

That’s it, sweet girl. Wake up. Come back to me.

Her fingers twitch again, a tremor running through her hand up to her wrist. Her head lifts slightly, then drops again like it’s too heavy to bear.

Fight it, Hailey. Whatever they’ve given you, fight it.

For a moment, I think she’s going to look up. That she’s going to see me. But then the door in the corner of her room opens. Voices filter through what must be hidden speakers in my cell.

“—final phase of conditioning. The drug has completely detached her from any lingering connections she thought she had.” A woman’s voice. Smooth, cultured. Veyra Heath.

“And the heat?” A male voice, deep and polished. “You’re certain it’s stable?”

“Completely. The chemical induction is precisely calibrated. She’ll remain in peak receptivity for approximately one week. More than enough time for bonding.”

My blood runs cold as two figures step into the light. Veyra Heath, immaculate as always in a tailored suit, her dark hair pulled back severely from her face. And behind her?—

The man I’ve been hunting, the shadow behind so many transactions, the one who bought Hailey like she was merchandise.

He steps further into the room, and I finally have a face to put with the code name.

Robert Caldwell. CEO of Burlington Leather. ‘Philanthropist.’ Lone alpha by choice.

‘Cee’.

He’s tall, elegant in the same tailored suit he was wearing back at the gala. Silver threads through his dark hair at the temples, lending him a distinguished air. Handsome, in the way that power and money can make any man appear attractive.

His steps falter as he spots me through the glass, his eyes widening with unmistakable shock. “What the hell ishedoing here?” His voice rises sharply. “Have you lost your mind, Heath?”

Veyra’s lips curve into a smirk as she glances my way. “Relax, Robert. He won’t be leaving here alive.”

“This wasn’t part of the arrangement,” Robert hisses, his composure cracking. “Do you have any idea who his family is? If he disappears?—”

“I told you not to worry,” Heath cuts him off, her tone hardening. “I’ll take care of all the problems. All the loose ends. His family doesn’t care about him. Not after what he did. Or have you forgotten?”

A vein in Caldwell’s neck throbs. “Listen to me you?—”

Veyra raises a hand. “No.Youlisten tome. This ismyoperation. You are simplymyclient. Or…is there somewhere else you can get a steady supply of pliable omegas?”

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